This baffles me. I know there is a sacrosanct method of naming pedigreed dogs involving sire and dam and kennel or some such arcana. Can you please explain it to me. At some point I need to give Kharma a paper name and send hers in. I really should've done it sooner (it would've cost a lot less) but I really didn't want to send in her papers with something completely off the wall for a name.

I'm not LaylaMuddy, but I think I can help you out The way I generally register dogs is my kennel name + dog's name + breeder kennel name. Some breeders will stipulate in a contract that you must register your dog with their kennel name first + dog's name + your kennel name. For example...

My dog Chewy (her call name) was bred by Old School Bullies. My kennel is Parkin's American Bulldogs. Chewy's registered name is Parkin's Chupacabra of Old School Bullies.

My other dog Widow (call name) came from a breeder who had in contract to have their kennel name first. She was bred by Humboldt's Finest American Bulldogs. Her registered name is Humboldt's Finest White Widow of Parkin.

In my breed, you do not have to use your dog's stud or dam name in their registered name (unless you would like to of course!) I'm not sure if your breed registry has a different naming policy or not. I would check with your registry or your breeder to find out for sure.

I hope I have helped somewhat! I know registering animals can be a pretty confusing thing to do sometimes! LOL!

Thanks a lot, Carrie, I know absolutely nothing about this, as I've never really given a flip about papers, just the dog. Now that we're going to be breeding the Filas, though, I have to deal with it.

At least Kharma's kennel's name isn't too cute or tricky: she's from Defender Filas. I'll have to look at her papers and see what's customary in the Fila community. Now that you've explained the art of naming to me, I can hopefully figure it out.

I had some vague idea at one point that the sire and dam should be acknowledged in the name, and at least with Cagney and Gamble that wouldn't have been too bad, but I guess that's really not expected?

At any rate, you guys have (I think) given me enough information that I can look at the way Filas are registered and not blow it too badly. It probably sounds foolish, but all those names just lost me as to where they came from, what was listed first, last, etc.

Most Fila people are notorious for thumbing our noses at AKC rules and traditions, since our dogs are WAY outside their venue - and we like it that way, so I'll have to figure out those idiosyncracies now that you've pointed me in the right direction.